Ok, I've had about enough! If I hear one more coach complain that the officiating didn't go their way, I'm going to find said coach, and punt him in his non-existent testicles. You can't have balls when you call out the officiating like that. What did you expect? To have the same amount of free throws as the other team? To not have your player called out at home trying to score the lead run? JESUS!

It's bad enough when you have these whining, sniveling, "poor me" millionares griping about the fact that they lost, and that it's the referee's fault! I'm sorry, Mr. Arenas, that your life is so unfair. Maybe we should switch jobs for a day. I'll make $10,000 playing for 48 minutes, and you can make $6.00/hr. for 8 hours working at a convenience store. You don't get any performance bonuses for getting through a line of 5 customers in 3 minutes. How does that sound? Bet your job seems like paradise in comparison. But when coaches start calling out the refs, it sends a larger message. It sets an awful precedent.

Seattle's Mike Holmgren was perhaps the largest offender. I know, Mike, your team just lost the Superbowl. It's gotta hurt. But when the Steelers lost the big game ten years earlier, you didn't see Bill Cowher throw a hissyfit (at least not over the refs). Why? Because Bill is a class act; a rarity among head coaches. It sets a horrific trend when high-profile coaches start doing such juvenile, obnoxious acts. Then the players continue, because, hey, if the coach does it, then it's justifiable. The media follows suit, and before you know it, you have ESPN saying that the refs were bought off by Dan Rooney. That may be a slight exaggeration, but at the rate this is going, it's not that farfetched. Don't get me started on the effect it will have on our younger generation. But suffice it to say, it needs to be stopped...NOW.

Impose harsher fines on coaches and players that badmouth the officiating. Forget these little slaps on the wrist. Hit 'em where it hurts. Revoke their endorsements, suspend them for 10 games without pay. Do what you feel is necessary, but take back control, or the games will continue on their road to hell, and there are no good intentions on this path.

What do you think guys? Can't you see me in Sports Illustrated ?

[ May 01, 2006, 06:55 PM: Message edited by: Falconpride ]

Cmon FP....tell us how you really feel!!! wink

Don't hold back!

And oh yes, Holmgren had a point. That was the worst officiated SB ever....most all calls went against them

Time of possesion - adv - Seattle

total offense - adv - Seattle

turnover battle - adv - Seattle

how do they lose by 11 then....poor officiating that they couldn't over come.

(I gots me a big one....reeling it in now )

Steelers first ever XFL super bowl champions

Those refs were just about as real and legit as the those people bopping around the stage at half time pretending to be fans of the Rolling Stones with their blank smiles and stares. If I wanted to see some 2nd class variety show with a fixed outcome, I'm sure I could have watched the WWF or some talent contest show on another network

[ May 02, 2006, 09:30 AM: Message edited by: sonic ]

Wow...you guys COMPLETELY missed the point of my rant. I wasn't just talking about Mike Holmgren and the questionable officiating. There are more examples than that. If you think it's so easy to be an referee, and that you could've made a better call, then go out and apply for a job. Until that point, let the officials make their calls, and accept the decision, regardless of your approval or agreement.

questionable?......... is an understatement

When it comes to what well may be the biggest annual sporting event on the planet, I would hope for some legitamacy and competence. If I'm needed to go officiate the next Super Bowl I will gladly volunteer my services, hehe. Seriously something fishy was happening there, I do think most refs do a good job, but like any other profession such as cops, there are good cops and bad cops and well, when they aren't doing there job and something fishy is going on they need to be critisized by not just Mike Holmgren at the very least, if that was only poor officiating, their unproffesional officiating did more to hurt the credibility of the NFL, and yes they should take heat for that. Holmgren and everyone else have every right to critisize them and they should be and investigated also. Excuse my spelling.

I think people understood your point that coaches should shut up about officiating, however....

You used a poor example in Mike Holmgren and Super Bowl XL to get your point across. Yes he whined quite a bit, but plenty of people out there saw his gripes as very, very legitimate. When that happens, people can understand a coach's disdain for the officiating.

Then you compounded it by using "Bill Cowher's class" years ago when the Steelers last lost the Super Bowl.

HELLO! The Steelers lost that game because their QB tossed two TD's to a member of the other team and had NOTHING to do with officiating. I can't remember anything bad about that game's officiating. But SB XL's will be talked about for years.

The officiating was horrible and one sided towards Pittsburgh in SB XL, and the only entities to think otherwise were:

1: Pittsburgh Steeler fans
2: The NFL

To be certain, coaches do tend to whine plenty about officiating, and yes lots of it is senseless crying by a team that lost. People tend to get irked at coaches whining about officiating when it is pretty clear that they lost on the merits of their own play. Or maybe when a team loses on a single bad call that can be overcome by a single play here or there.

In the recent Super Bowl it is a very reasonable statement to say that Seattle was good enough to win, but poor officiating at SEVERAL critical junctures doomed Seattle as much as, if not more than what the men in helmets did.

And a little counterpoint here. These officials at the highest level of sport get paid very handsomely to do what they do. If they can't get the calls right(especially at the game's highest stage) and can't handle the criticism there are other careers they can go into for a living.

[ May 03, 2006, 08:47 PM: Message edited by: blueraider ]

Blue, you're not going to hear this alot, so don't get used to it, but...your claim has some validity. And furthermore, you explained your position in an intelligent and respectful manner, citing examples. Perhaps using the Mike Holmgren situation was a poor choice, however, using Bill Cowher was, although I used the wrong game. There have been several cases where there was questionable officiating, and Bill didn't badmouth the refs--at least, not where I can clearly remember. However, you ARE older than I am , so he may have, and you would know, since you were there.

I will now reiterate the point I was trying to make, albeit unsuccessfully. There are players who make more money in one season than I would ever see in a lifetime who whine and bitch about "bad calls". When the coach, who is supposed to lead by example, chimes in like a little leaguer about the refs wanting the other team to win, it only encourages the other players, and the media, to question the officiating. Basketball and Baseball are the primary sports where this occurs.

Baseball's strike zone is arbitrary, thus making the officiating difficult. And there aren't instant replays, at least not that I know of, to make a call that could be overturned, although in the case of a home run, that would happen, and has.

Basketball is also difficult, because again, as far as I know, what one ref would consider travelling, one ref would let another player get away with it. It's exceedingly arbitrary. When LeBron makes a two-handed jam, he may very well be travelling, because he's taking 4 or 5 steps without dribbling, in order to give himself enough momentum to make the dunk.

To summarize my point, and to counter YOUR counter-point, you're right. If refs can't stand the heat, they should get out of the kitchen (pardon the cliche). But when you have the losing coach and/or players questioning your calls almost every game, and it IS starting to become a disturbing trend, then it needs to be quelched. Why harrass them for something so subjective? If the coaches, players, and fans think they can do a better job at making calls AND handling the scrutiny, then go for it. But until then, just shut your pieholes .

P.S. I say that from love .